Hospital dressing gown construction

ABSTRACT

A hospital dressing gown construction  10  adapted to accommodate medical tubing, monitor wires, drains etc., wherein the construction includes a dressing gown member  20  having a generally T-shaped front  40  and rear  30  panels wherein the front panel  40  is provided with a deep V-neck opening  44  and an enlarged aperture  45  covered by a pocket flap  50  that is dimensioned to receive a heart monitor; and, wherein, the front  40  and rear  30  panel members are joined to one another by both permanent seams  39/49  and a plurality of pairs of cooperating hook and loop fasteners  36/46 37/47  etc., to both facilitate the donning of the construction by a patient and to provide unfettered access to the patient&#39;s torso by medical personnel.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This invention was the subject matter of Document Disclosure Program Registration No. 491316, filed on Mar. 29, 2001, and entitled “G.S.D.L. Gown”

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

[0003] Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] 1. Field of the Invention

[0005] The present invention relates to the field of apparel in general and in particular to a specially designed hospital dressing gown having a variety of access features.

[0006] 2. Description of Related Art

[0007] As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,055,855; 5,088,117; 4,837,863; and, 4,964,173, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse hospital gown constructions ostensibly designed for ease of use and increased personal privacy.

[0008] While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practically designed hospital gown construction that not only affords the patient a high degree of personal privacy, but which also has numerous non-standard access openings adapted to accommodate IV tubing, monitor wires, drains, ventilators, etc.

[0009] The conventional hospital gown construction has not undergone any major structural modifications in over 40 years and is totally out of sync with the demands of modern medicine, not to mention the age old “bare butt” problem.

[0010] As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved hospital dressing gown construction that addresses all of the shortcomings of the conventional open back dressing gown and also makes provisions for recent advances in routine hospital care; and, the provision of such a construction is the stated objective of the present invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Briefly stated, the hospital dressing gown construction that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a dressing gown member having a front panel and a rear panel fixedly and releasably joined together in a specific manner to facilitate the donning of the dressing gown while also providing access for diverse tubes, monitor wires, drains, etc.

[0012] As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the front panel is also provided with a V-neck to accommodate patients on ventilation or equipped with tracheostomies and a pocket covering an enlarged aperture wherein the pocket is designed to receive a heart monitor and the aperture is provided to allow heart monitor wires to extend from the heart monitor through the aperture in the front panel to the patient's chest.

[0013] Furthermore, the rear panel of this construction is not provided with the conventional open back and tie arrangement, which has traditionally caused both physical and psychological discomfort to be experienced by the patient wearing the outdated conventional dressing gown construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] These and other attributes of the invention will become more clear upon a thorough study of the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, particularly when reviewed in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

[0015]FIG. 1 is an enlarged detail view of the apertured pocket provided on the front panel of the gown member;

[0016]FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the shoulder closure arrangement found on both sides of the gown member;

[0017]FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the dressing gown member; and,

[0018]FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the dressing gown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particularly to FIG. 1, the hospital dressing gown construction that forms the basis of the present invention is designated generally by the reference number 10. The construction involves a dressing gown member 20 having a rear panel 30 fixedly and releasably connected to a front panel 40 which includes a pocket flap 50.

[0020] As can best be appreciated by reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, both the rear panel 30 and the front panel 40 have a generally T-shaped configuration wherein the stem portions 31 41 of the T-shaped configuration are dimensioned to cover the back and front respectively of the patient's torso and the cross-arms 32 42 and 33 43 correspond to the back and front of the garment sleeves.

[0021] While the overall dimensions and configurations of the rear 30 and front 40 panels are generally the same, the rear panel 30 is provided with a conventional rounded neck opening 34 whereas the front panel 40 is provided with a V-shaped neck opening 44.

[0022] In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the torso portion 41 of the front panel 40 is further provided with an enlarged aperture 45 that is covered by the pocket flap 50 wherein the pocket flap 50 is dimensioned to receive a heart monitor (not shown) and the enlarged aperture 45 in the front panel 40 accommodates the passage of heart monitor wires from the patient's torso through the aperture 45 to the heart monitor.

[0023] Turning now to FIGS. 2 through 4, it can be seen that the upper portion of the rear and front panels are provided with two pairs of cooperating hook and loop fasteners 36′/46′ which extend across the top edge of the sleeves 32/42 and 33/43 of the garment construction 10, and one of the opposed sides of the front 40 and rear 30 panels is provided with an additional pair of cooperating hook and loop fasteners 37/47.

[0024] Still referring to FIGS. 2 through 4, it can be seen that the other of the opposed sides of the front 40 and rear 30 panels is provided with a permanent seam 38/48 and the bottom edges of the sleeves 32/42 and 33/43 are likewise provided with permanent seams 39′/49′ and 39/49.

[0025] By now it should be appreciated that the hospital gown construction 10 of this invention has a number of functional features not found in the conventional open backed hospital gown. To begin with, the V-shaped front panel neck opening 44 provides a much more comfortable fit for patients with tracheostomies or those connected to a ventilator. In the conventional open back construction, the ties are normally left open due to the fact that the act of engaging the ties interferes with the trach or ventilator tubing.

[0026] In addition, the sleeve closures 36/46 36′/46′ and side closure 37/47 permit the gown construction 10 of this invention to be slipped over the patient's head followed by an engagement of the aforementioned closures; and, the fact the back panel 30 does not have a vertical opening formed therein addresses the patient's need for personal privacy while still providing virtual unlimited access to the patient's body through the aforementioned closures, openings and front panel aperture.

[0027] Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

[0028] Having thereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications, and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims. 

I claim:
 1. A hospital dressing gown construction adapted to accommodate medical tubing, monitor wires, drains, etc., wherein the construction comprises: a dressing gown member having generally T-shaped front and rear panels wherein the front panel has a torso covering portion that includes a V-shaped neck opening and an enlarged aperture covered by a pocket flap and the rear panel has a torso covering portion that includes a rounded neck opening; and, a plurality of cooperating pairs of hook and loop fasteners disposed on selected opposed portions of the front and rear panels.
 2. The construction as in claim 1; wherein, one of said plurality of cooperating pairs of hook and loop fasteners is disposed along one of the opposed sides of the torso covering portions of the front and rear panels.
 3. The construction as in claim 2; wherein, the other of the opposed sides of the torso covering portions of the front and rear panels are connected together by a permanent seam.
 4. The construction as in claim 1; wherein, the front and rear panels of the dressing gown member are provided with a pair of sleeves having a top and a bottom edge.
 5. The construction as in claim 4; wherein, at least one of the top and bottom opposed edges of the pair of sleeves is provided with a pair of cooperating hook and loop fasteners.
 6. The construction as in claim 5; wherein, at least two of the top and bottom opposed edges of the pair of sleeves are provided with two pairs of cooperating hook and loop fasteners.
 7. The construction as in claim 6; wherein, the remaining two of the top and bottom opposed edges of the pair of sleeves are provided with permanent seams.
 8. The construction as in claim 7; wherein, the top edges of the pair of sleeves are provided with said two pairs of cooperating hook and loop fasteners.
 9. The construction as in claim 3; wherein, the front and rear panels of the dressing gown member are provided with a pair of sleeves having a top and a bottom edge.
 10. The construction as in claim 9; wherein, at least one of the top and bottom opposed edges of the pair of sleeves is provided with a pair of cooperating hook and loop fasteners.
 11. The construction as in claim 10; wherein, at least two of the top and bottom opposed edges of the pair of sleeves are provided with two pairs of cooperating hook and loop fasteners.
 12. The construction as in claim 11; wherein, the remaining two of the top and bottom opposed edges of the pair of sleeves are provided with permanent seams.
 13. The construction as in claim 12; wherein, the top edges of the pair of sleeves are provided with said two pairs of cooperating hook and loop fasteners. 